When Fire Meets Ice (And More Fire)
by nipplegod
Summary: Awaken too early from his slumber, Todoroki comes face to face with a man like him, scar and all. Except for the fact he looks like came straight from a fantasy world.
1. Chapter 1

With the familiar heat of flames radiating against his legs, all Todoroki could muster was a low groan. He pulled himself out of him crumpled blankets to meet a foreign figure. Blinking sleep out his eyes, it took him a second to realize that, in fact, a menacing looking figure was at the edge of his bed.

The man was tall and pale, almost blending into the walls of the dorm. His sharp face glared at him with a quiet anger. An expression Todoroki shared out of sleep deprivation rather than vexation. He was dressed in a deep scarlet robe, a gold ribbon tightly tied against his waist. He looked like he came from long ago - his clothes were in stark contrast with Todoroki's shark pajamas.

From the palm of his hands was a small, yet steady flame. _Fire Quirk, huh._ Squinting at his face, Todoroki saw a patch of pale pink across his cheek, disrupting his fair complexion. It was a… scar. He felt an odd feeling in his stomach. Not quite pain, or nausea, more just unpleasant.

Gaining lucidity, Todoroki leaped of the mattress, getting into a defensive pose. Mimicking the man, he spawned a flame, hot against his palm.

The man gasped, stepping back.

"Another firebender… With an identical scar! Either way, I would like it if you assisted me, no idea where I am…"

Todoroki raised his eyebrow. _Firebender?_ He didn't recall any other names for Quirks. Ever when you talked to people in foreign countries, if you mentioned Quirks there eyes would light up in understanding.

Before the stranger could continue, Todoroki took advantage of man's momentary vulnerability. With a thrust of his hands, the man's legs were frozen to to floor. _Too easy._ Todoroki glanced at the digital clock on his bedside table. He swore against his breath. _Two hours late… Which means basically everyone's at school. Which means he's alone. Great._

Todoroki jerked his head back once he hear a mix of spluttering and gasping.

"There is only one avatar, Aang… I-it's impossible to control more than one…" The man trailed off clenching and unclenching his fists. His pale, gold eyes met Todoroki with a fiery intensity. However, Todoroki saw a bit of fear in his eyes, or more, confusion.

"I must be dreaming…" The man concluded softly. He left his arm to his side and closed his eyes.

Before Todoroki could react, his collapsed limp onto the floor, cracking the ice secured around his ankles.

Todoroki ran his fingers through his hair. _This was… This was a problem._


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes, Todoroki fantasized about a world without Quirks. Without the responsibility given for possessing such immense power, and without a constant threat to their existence. A time before a person's value was determined by a genetic probability. Without heroes or villains - just people. No 'supernatural' powers, and no alienation of one group to another. But, to be honest, he just wants a break. A break from the insanity of his world. A break from the interminable pain (and excruciating satisfaction) that is being a 'hero'. Sometimes, he even felt a minute _envy_ for the Quirkless. Unlike him, they were born without a pressure for greatness - a greatness which often costs safety, friendships, and health. They were born free - even if they were often mistreated. And so, his mind would linger at this thought of a time without Quirks, the image of the world hundreds of years prior always fresh in his mind.

Alas, it could only _really _be a dream. The forces of the universe apparently cannot tolerate Todoroki Shouto - son of pro-hero, Endeavour - taking a _single goddamn break._ 'It was a brutal and discriminatory agenda!' Todoroki would be the first to protest. But, it was an agenda that Todoroki had to face every grueling day. No matter how much we wanted to use his Quirk to melt away his vital organs. Then, Todoroki resolved, he wouldn't have to pay for a cremation. .

Todoroki wiped the sweat that had pooled in the crease of his forehead. He considered letting the strange man lay there, splayed on the floor. Todoroki supposed he didn't have a reason _not_ to leave him there. After all, he was a hysterical, peculiarly dressed man who had somehow appeared inside his room. For all Todoroki knew, he was some sort of pathetic villain. And, this could all be an elaborate ploy to kidnap him. But, something about the desperate lilt of the strange man's voice made Todoroki feel like he had a responsibility to help the man. After all, wouldn't a villain be more confident, or evidently malicious, or have a plan? As a student hero, Todoroki felt a responsibility to respond to the man's desperation, even if inconvenient.

So, with great difficulty, he hauled the man's body onto the covers of his bed. He was far heavier than Todoroki expected from his willowy frame. Todoroki had almost gave him a plethora of painful injuries while trying to turn the doorknob but - thankfully - managed to carry him through. After unceremoniously dropping the man onto the thin mattress, Todoroki mused the thought of tucking the man in with his shark-patterned blanket. He decided against this realising how... _inappropriate_ that would be.

Todoroki sat down on the floor (_criss-cross applesauce of course, he is a man of culture_) He sighed deeply, and tried to really consider the strange man's appearance.

His skin was abnormally fair - almost the colour of the faint cream paint upon the walls - save for the unhealthy blue tinge to the man's face. The sunlight that pierced through the yellow curtains laid unattractively against his pale features. It produced deep shadows against his cheekbones and the ridges of his eyebrow; he looked ghoulish - supernatural. The kind of face you would be paranoid of watching you through the trees while you walk in a forest, late at night.

Todoroki noted the way the man's shaggy hair cloaked his forehead. It was the dark colour of ash, in deep juxtaposition with his otherwise fine features. It was matted and unkempt, and the tips seemed singed. By what fire, Todoroki did not know. Todoroki's eyes traced the corner of the man's thin lips. They dipped down into a slight, yet still dignified, frown. The ever present frown you would expect from a disagreeable socialite, whose thick fingers selfishly clutched their wine glass. The type of man to eye disdainfully upon the common people.

The type of man who also always has an eyebrow ready to haughtily poise in question. Todoroki tried wiggling his eyebrows to no avail.

Slowly - with bated breath - Todoroki looked at the man's scar. It laid angrily on the man's left cheekbone. A blotchy discoloration that further disrupted the man's fair complexion. Todoroki hissed through his gritted teeth and traced his own scar slowly. He was unsure whether the throbbing was imaginary - a fabrication of could only imagine how the strange man got his own.

Todoroki closed his eyes shut and lied down onto the floor. He extended his arms and legs out and sighed - whether out of content or melancholy he did not know. He fingered the soft carpet through his fingers. The air conditioner heaved bursts of frigid air throughout the room, and onto Todoroki's face, uncomfortably. With a shaky hand, he brought a hand to his mouth. He almost found himself falling into his habit as a child to suck on the digits for comfort.

_His mother's glazed look in her eyes. Her quivering frame as she lifted the kettle from the fire. The piercing whistle was already too much to handle - everything looked, felt, distorted. Deformed. Everything in sight seemed so contorted that Todoroki felt like he was in a haunted house. He had never felt smaller than now, daunted by the height of every surrounding item. Thick spikes of fear pierced him, leaving his small frame gasping for air. There were as harsh as bodily injuries, and his throat was so dry that he could taste the tangy blood at the back of was wholly filled with a primal terror - 'fight or flight' when he knew doing either would have grave consequences. So, he stood, trying to seem indifferent (even though he knew his quivering frown showed his weakness) and looked up to her. His mother never looked taller than when she loomed over him. Adults always seem to get taller when they are scolding you. Her hands trembled so hard that a miniscule part of him wanted to steady them, to comfort her, to make her smile again. _

_It took a second for him to register when the water touched his face. For a second, he blinked, blank, when the pain erupted in his cheek. He wailed like a newborn would, his voice high and broken. His head felt like it was on ignited with a crown of flames, and his cheek felt even worse. The burning-hot sensation was interminable. Todoroki's large eyes filled with fat tears. They rolled down his red cheeks and reddening injury, and like gasoline, made the fiery feeling increase. His mother, his protector, a woman tender of heart, had __**hurt**_ _him._

_His heart grew with, once again, with a ferocious resentment of his father. It was all Endeavour's fault. That man drove his mother to this point, Endeavour's fault. Endeavour's faul-_

A throaty cough pulled Todoroki out of his memory-induced trance.

Todoroki jerked his body up, russling his white and crimson hair. He blinked once. Twice. Thrice. The strange man - who had moments earlier been still as a corpse - was sitting upright on the mattress, one eyebrow quirked slightly at Todoroki. And god, what an eyebrow quirk that was. The man curled his slender fingers around the edge of the blanket (mind you, the shark-patterned one) and pulled it off his body. He revealed his dark, draping robes that pooled around his arms. Dual-coloured eyes met a sharp gold, and Todoroki was ashamed to admit that he looked away first.

Todoroki, with as much caution as one would give to a trembling wild animal, approached him.

With the stranger's pale eyes wide, Todoroki realized that the 'man' was certainly more of a _boy_. His determined gaze provided the boy with a certain youth one could compare to an adolescent flame. There was a certain conviction in his eyes that many heroes, Todoroki saw, shared. Midoriya, Uraraka, Bakugou - despite their wildly differing personalities there was always a certain _glint _in their eyes when they were ready to risk their lives to defeat a villain. Every time the situation would arise - and they would have that one type of goddamn smirk. The fate of their adversary was obvious at that point. Todoroki admired that dedication - after all, what could be more admirable than a hero sacrificing themself for the greater good?

The boy's eyes narrowed, and now, the look in his eye had soured like milk left out for far too long..

"Tell me where I am now, captor!" the boy demanded. His voice, presumably unused for a time, was gravelly and harsh. He raised himself off of the mattress with a push of his long arms. He made a move towards Todoroki, in what the student hero realized was supposed to be a meaningful strut. The boy, within seconds, collapsed onto the ground, his arms and legs splayed out around him. His cheeks coloured a light red, he struggled to pull himself up. Todoroki, who was watching mute, stared without an expression on his face. His preconceived image of the regality of the boy was definitely… altered.

Without a word, Todoroki took the dark-haired boy's hand in his, and pulled the boy to his feet. The boy furrowed his thin eyebrows. They stared at each other for a very long moment, daring the other to break the silence. The dark-haired boy slipped his fingers out of Todoroki's.

"This… this… cell does not seem to be of the Fire Nation… Where _have_ you abducted me, coward?" the boy snarled. His sharp nose wrinkled. Once composed, Todoroki noted, the boy's face shone with more of a commanding aura than one of gentility. Todoroki stopped his train of thought. _Fire Nation…?_

"What do you mean by 'Fire Nation'?" Todoroki asked, taking a step back as a precaution. He was becoming more and more afraid that the strange man he had 'saved' was deluded. The boy, who had opened his mouth to speak, closed it tightly into a thin line. His golden eyes darted across the room and assessed each detail. His eyes opened in recognition as he looked once again at Todoroki, and he let out a sharp gasp. The boy grasped Todoroki's calloused hands tightly.

"You- how do you…. How do you bend more than one element?" the boy demanded. His grip on Todoroki's palms tightened with every passing second. The boy's teeth gnawed at his lip, and the beginnings of scarlet arose from.a particularly hard bite.

"'Bend an element'?' Todoroki inquired. He somehow managed to pull his fingers out of the boy's grasp. He cocked his head to the side and tried to think. _What does that… mean? He did say something similar before he passed out… Is he really just delusional - maybe a cosplayer?_ Todoroki glanced down the boy's face. _He seems too competent and devoted to be either… And he did appear in my room so he couldn't be... What could be an 'element'?_ Todoroki's mouth parted slightly. "Do you mean my Quirk?"

The boy had no reaction to the term, and in fact, his pale eyes were trained on the floor with disconcerting intensity. The boy mumbled to himself with increasing speed, and bore a resemblance to Midoriya during one of his infamous hero-induced soliloquies. Todoroki hummed to himself before lifting his right hand. In a burst, a frozen translucent spike slid up from his palms. Through the ice, the face of the dark-haired boy was distorted comically. The irregular shape of his wide eyes almost made Todoroki release a harsh raised his left hand, and after narrowing his eyes in concentration, a small flame blossomed.

The boy let out a cry.

"H-how-h-ow…" The boy pressed his hands against his scalp, aghast. "How did you do that? Who are you?" The boy dropped his arms, and his fingers dug into his thighs. His demeanor was aggressive but Todoroki could recognize the boy's rapid breathing and his shaking arms.

Todoroki was perplexed. He remembered being awakened by flames which were definitely produced by the boy. _He clearly has a Quirk…. How can he not know what a Quirk is if he has one? And why does he call them 'elements'? _Tordoroki opened his mouth to speak.

_Ring! Ring! Ring!_

_Oh, shit. I forget I missed school._

* * *

do people still make author's notes lmao. ok so uh... if you look at my profile you can tell that most of the garbage i write is satire (except my fortnite/garfield fanfictions they are 100% serious) yea, so I was surprised I got any reviews on this story and I honestly don't know if im gonna update it again. whatever nobody cares PogO


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